Each night of Chanukah we will share a message from our clergy, candle blessings, and inspiration from our Orange County community.
Cantor Young's message includes who we are honoring as tonight's Shining Light, and each night of Chanukah we will continue to honor very special people in our TBESOC community.
In the spirit of Hanukkah, an eight-day holiday that celebrates the restoration of Jewish religious freedom in ancient Israel, we are highlighting eight religious communities under threat across the globe. Join us in shining a light on the areas of the world where darkness remains and the freedoms of religious communities are suppressed. Let this year’s Hanukkah observance, remind us to promote religious liberty and end the oppression of religious minorities wherever they may be. Please share this information with your friends and family to show your support for these communities and for religious freedom around the world.
North Koreans
North Koreans suffer atrocious abuses under the current government, including egregious violations of freedom of religion. The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry found that “countless numbers of persons in the DPRK who attempt to practice their religious beliefs have been severely punished, even unto death,” causing the population of religious adherents in the country to drop from about 24% of the population in1950 to only 0.16% in 2002.
In North Korea, the Constitution guarantees "freedom of religious beliefs". However, in reality there is no freedom of religion in the country. According to one report at least 200,000 Christians have gone missing since 1953. Christians in North Korea are said to be the most persecuted in the world.
Government policy continues to interfere with the individual's ability to choose and to manifest a religious belief. The regime continues to repress the religious activities of unauthorized religious groups. Recent refugee, defector, missionary, and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) reports indicate that religious persons engaging in proselytizing in the country, those who have ties to overseas evangelical groups operating across the border in the People's Republic of China, and specifically, those repatriated from China and found to have been in contact with foreigners or missionaries, have been arrested and subjected to harsh penalties. People found with Christian Bibles, considered to be a symbol of the West, can be executed or tortured. Refugees and defectors continued to allege that they witnessed arrests and execution of members of underground Christian churches by the regime. Due to the country's inaccessibility and the inability to gain timely information, this activity remains difficult to verify.
Practitioners of other religions, such as Buddhism, Shamanism and the native Korean Cheondoism – which combines elements of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taosim and Shamanism – also face restrictions and discrimination, but are treated more leniently. Christianity is repressed most harshly because it is viewed as a foreign religion, and Christians are suspected of being spies.
